3 new cranes part of major expansion at Port Newark

Port Newark Container Terminal said it will add three super-post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes this year that will be able to accommodate larger vessels and increase the terminal’s capacity.
PNCT President James Pelliccio said the ZMPC super-post-Panamax cranes are scheduled to arrive in May, with commissioning in late August or early September.
“These cranes have significantly improved capabilities. They can accommodate some of the largest vessels that will be deployed in the U.S. trades post-Panama Canal expansion. The cranes are capable of handling 14,000+ TEU vessels, are 22 containers wide and have a 65-ton twin 20-foot lifting capacity.”
In addition to the cranes, PNCT is undergoing major improvements, increasing its acreage from 259 to 300 acres, deepening its berths, strengthening docks, and expanding the queuing area and upgrading capital equipment. PNCT said it has also completed the upgrade of its entire fleet of container-handling equipment.
PNCT also said it will invest more than $500 million in its expansion before the year 2030 and that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will invest up to an additional $100 million in improvements to the PNCT facility.
It also noted that the port Authority also is expanding Port Newark Container Terminal’s ExpressRail facility from its current two loading tracks to four, giving the terminal the ability to handle 250,000 rail boxes per year. The additional 5,000 feet of rail track and resulting capacity will give PNCT the ability to service both CSX and Norfolk Southern. The project is scheduled to be fully completed by April 2015.
PNCT also has taken delivery of three new rubber-tired gantry cranes for the next phase of the terminal’s on-dock rail yard expansion, a change from its current reach-stacker operation. The ongoing rail yard expansion includes the doubling of rail track to 10,000 feet, which will be completed this summer, and the completion of a flyover bridge. This 543-foot-long crossing allows cargo containers to be quickly and efficiently moved from the dock to ExpressRail Port Newark, which transports more than 100,000 containers by rail annually.
PNCT handles about 600,000 containers annually, about 19 percent of the container traffic in the Port of New York and New Jersey.